Timer brush



Sept. 18 1 923. 1,468,180

E. W. TURNER TIMER BRUSH Filed May 16 1921 Earl zMJurnsr;

Patented Sept. 18, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

. EARL W. TURNER, OF KOKOMO, INDIANA.

TiMER BRUSH.

Application filed May 16,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EARL W. TURNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kokomo,'in the county of Howard and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Timer Brushes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention appertains to certain improvements in brushes for timers of the ignition systems of internal combustion engines generally, and more particularly to a type of the same adapted for use in con junction with the timers as used in the ignition systems of Ford types of automobile within its holder as to be resiliently main and tractor engines.

In the present form of timers used on Ford automobiles and tractors, thesame are generally located in positions as to be subjected to accumulations of dirt and oil, and especially in the brush contact raceways thereof, such as is extremely detrin'iental to the eiiicient operation of the ignition systerns of the engines thereof. i In the forms of brush electrodes heretofore used in connection with these timers, the same have been found to be "er-y inefiicient in the operation of establishing the circuit connections of the ignition systems by reason of not being able to effect a scraping action On the opposed wall of the raceways of the timers, and the spaced contacts seated therein, for the cleaning off of the dirt and oil accumulations, as aforesaid, but

same in the raceways of the timers with. which they are associated, has been found to effect an uneven wear on the opposed surfaces of the raceways, and to an extent as to often result in the jumping of the brush electrode in a manner to cause misfires in the cylinders of the engines, so as to render the engine extremely ineflicient and unsteady in operation.

'The principal object of the invention therefore is to provide for a timer brush especially designed for use on Ford types of timers, and one which is adapted to effectively clean or scrape ofl all accumulations of dirt and oil from the contact racewaythere- 1921. Serial No. 470,098.

of. and which will otherwise effectivelv es tablish the circuit connections of the ignit1on system.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the'timer brush as to increase its period of usefulness to a marked degree and to so form its active contacting portion as to'c-ause an even and uniform wear to the same, and consequently, to the opposed surface of the raceway, throughout its entire life or period of use.

A further object of the invention is to. provide for a timer brush as hereinbefore characterized, and one which is so mounted tained in active contacting position with re spect to the contacting surface of the race way of the timer, butwhich will. be other on the active end of the same to be unevenly distributed and consequently result I in a reduction of the efiiciency of the timer as a whole. I

lVith the foregoing and other advantages and objects in view, the invention residesin the certain novel and useful construction of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, set forthin the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying.drawing, in which:-

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section of the preferred embodiment of the brush and its holder,

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same,

Fig. 3 is a top plan view thereof,

gig. 4 is an elevation of the brush per se, an

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the latter.

Referring to the drawing, the brush holder comprises a sleeve portion 10 adapted to be secured in position, in any usual manner, to a rotating shaft (not shown), i. e. the cam shaft of the engine of a Ford automobile or tractor, and the same is formed with a lateral offset or reduced neck portion 11 connecting a brush socket 12, prefef'ablv cylindrical in form and closed at one end, and having its longitudinal axis extending parallel to that of the sleeve portion 10. The holder may be and preferably is in the form of a one-piece casting, and the closed end of the brush socket 12 thereof, is preferably disposed flush in the plane of the outer end of the sleeve 10, with the open end thereof terminating in a. plane inwardly of the inner end of the latter.

Slidably mounted in the open end of the socket is a brush member 13, in the form of a cylindrical e ectrode of a suitable current conductirigmaterial, preferably of metal, and the inner end of the same is formed wita a concentric bore 14 for the reception of a coiled snring extending outwardly of the bore l i and into the bore of the socket and abutting the inner wall of the closed end thereof.

The free outer end portion of the brush electrode 1 is reversely beveled or curved from opposite sides thereof to provide a substantially rectangular active conta sting portion 16 extendin diametrically of the same, and the electrode is to be positioned within t..e socket 12 of the holder,.so that, upon the rotation of the latter, the contacting portion 16 will be disposed crossways of the contact raceway of the timer (not shown), and whereby the leading side edge of this portion 16 will effect a cleaning and scraping action on the opposed surface of the raceway ano the spaced contacts thereof in a manner to thoroughly clean the same of dirt and oil accumulations which may be present thereon, thus assuring of good electrical contact between the flat rectangular end face of the brush electrode and the several contacts of the timer raceway. The end face of the brush electrode will he maintained in flat contacting relation with respect to the opposed face of the timer raceway by the tensioning effect of the coiled spring 15, so that the wear, due to the frictional contact therebetween, will be uniformly distributed not only on the electrode end, but also on the face of the timer raceway opposed to the same. To limit the movement of the brush electrode outwardly of the socket 12. the outer face of the same is provided with a vertically extending groove 17 which termi nates at its upper end inwardly from the upper end thereof, and normally engaged in this groove, at the upper closed end thereof, is the inner end of a screw 18 which is threaded inwardly of the wall of the socket 12 for the purpose. This arrangement also provides against all movements of the brush electrode relative to the holder with the es:-

oregoing, it will be readily i1 invention provides for an iaren't that c e.-;;remely simplified and comparatively inexpensive construction of brush electrode ant l older, and one which will function in an etlicient manner for the accomplishment of the desired purposes thereof.

It is well understood that. while the improved tinier brush and holder forming the subject matter of this ap ilication has been des ribed and illustrated herein in specific terms and details, various changes in the construction and arrangement of the parts of the same. and modifications thereof, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, or from the scope of the claims appended hereto.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed is:-

1. In a timer brush. a rotatable holder. a socket forming means of length than the holder and disposed parallel thereto, said means carried by the holder and closed at one end, a brush or electrode slidably mounted in said means and normally projecting from the open end thereof, a coiled spring within said socket and bearing against said electrode for normally maintaining it partially projected from said means, said electrode having its projected portion reduced to provide a substantially rectangular flat contacting face and adapted to lie crossways of the race-way of the timer and having its flat face disposed in cross abutting relation to the opposed fa e of the race-way to effect a cleaning and scraping action thereto in its movement around the same, and means for limiting the outward movement of said brush or electrode.

2. In a timer brush, an electrode having one end thereof reduced to provide a rectangular flat contacting face, said electrode having a groove extending from said flat face and terminating at a point:- removed from the other end of the electrode, a rotatable holder, a socket; for-min; means carried by the holder and having said electrode mounted therein, a spring arranged in said means and hearing against the electrode for normally maintaining a portion thereof projected from said means. and a stop element carried by said means and engaging in said groove for limiting the outward movement of the electrode.

8. In a timer brush, a cylindrical electrode having one end thereof reduced to provide a rectangular fiat contacting face, said electrode having the peripheral groove 0X- tending from said flat face and terminating at a point removed from the other end of the electrode, a rotatable holder, a cylindrical socket forming means carried by the holder and having said electrode mounted therein. a spring arranged in said means and bearing against the electrode for normally maintaining a portion thereof projected from said means. a stop element carried by said means and engaging in said groove for limiting the outward movement of the electrode, and said electrode having its inner-portion hollow for the reception said arm and disposed in parallelism with said holder, a spring controlled electrode element slidably mounted in said socket element and normally projecting from one end thereof, said electrode element having a fiat outer end to provide a wiping and scraping surface for the race-way of a timer, one of said elements having a combined sto receiving and arresting means extending lengthwise thereof and the other of said elements having a stop extending at right angles with respect thereto and traveling in said means, said stop and said means limiting the outward movement of said electrode element with respect to said socket element.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature hereto. t

EARL W. TURNER. 

